Editing George Abbot (author) (section)

==Life==
Abbott was the son of George Abbott of York (died 1607) and his wife Joan Penkeston. While ''[[Alumni Cantabrigienses]]'' states that he matriculated at [[King's College, Cambridge]] in 1622, the ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]'' discounts the identification, for lack of evidence.<ref name="ODNB"/><ref>{{acad|id=ABTS622G|name=Abbotts or Abbot, George}}</ref> He owned property in [[Baddesley Clinton]], Warwickshire, and was a good friend of [[Richard Vines (priest)|Richard Vines]], minister at [[Caldecote, Warwickshire|Caldecote]] some way to the east.<ref>{{cite book|author=Ann Hughes|title=Politics, Society and Civil War in Warwickshire, 1620-1660|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0QpcE0fwP-kC&pg=PA175|date=16 May 2002|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-52015-7|page=175}}</ref> In April 1640, he was elected as a [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|member of parliament]] (MP) for [[Tamworth (UK Parliament constituency)|Tamworth]] in the [[Short Parliament]].{{sfn|Willis|1750|p=229, 236}}  
[[File:George Abbott tablet.jpg|thumb|Memorial tablet to George Abbot in Caldecote Church, 1656 engraving]]

In the English Civil War, Abbot worked closely in Warwickshire with his stepfather [[William Purefoy]], and made a notable defence, with his mother Joan, of the Purefoy house at [[Caldecote, Warwickshire]], gaining the family coverage in the London press.<ref>{{cite ODNB|id=22901|title=Purefoy, William|first=Ann|last=Hughes}}</ref> On 15 August 1642, with eight men, his mother and maids, he held out for a time against [[Prince Rupert of the Rhine]], with about 18 troops of horses and dragoons.<ref name="ODNB"/> In the aftermath of the [[Battle of Edgehill]], in October of the same year, [[Richard Baxter]] moved to [[Coventry]], and Abbot was one of those hearing him preach there.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Richard Baxter|author2=William Orme|author2-link=William Orme (minister)|title=The Practical Works of the Rev. Richard Baxter: With a Life of the Author, and a Critical Examination of His Writings|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zn0uAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA42|year=1830|publisher=J. Duncan|page=42}}</ref> Baxter in writing on the Sabbath referred to "my dear friend Mr. George Abbot".<ref>{{cite book|author=Richard Baxter|title=The Practical Works of Richard Baxter: With a Preface, Giving Some Account of the Author, and of this Edition of His Practical Works : an Essay on His Genius, Works and Times : and a Portrait|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IYgfAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA879|year=1838|publisher=G. Virtue|page=879}}</ref> In his memoirs ''Reliquiæ Baxterianæ'', Baxter placed Abbot's defence of Caldecote House, where barns were burnt, in local context: royalists under [[Spencer Compton, 2nd Earl of Northampton]] were attacking [[Warwick Castle]], defended by [[John Bridges (Parliamentarian)|John Bridges]], and Coventry, defended by [[John Barker (Parliamentarian)|John Barker]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Richard Baxter|title=Reliquiæ Baxterianæ: Or, Mr. Richard Baxter's Narrative of the Most Memorable Passages of His Life and Times|url=https://archive.org/details/reliquiaebaxteri00baxt|year=1696|publisher=T. Parkhurst, J. Robinson, J. Lawrence, and J. Dunton|page=[https://archive.org/details/reliquiaebaxteri00baxt/page/29 29]}}</ref>

Abbot was re-elected MP for Tamworth in 1645 for the [[Long Parliament]] and held the seat until his death in 1649.{{sfn|Willis|1750|pp=240, 249}} He died unmarried in his 44th year, and was buried in Caldecote church where his monument describes his defence of Caldecote.<ref name="ODNB"/>